Dear Editor:
This past Veterans Day started the wheels turning again for me. In my mind, I traveled back more than 150 years ago to an ancestor who served in the war of Northern aggression, a simple man from the Smithonia area of Oglethorpe County. He was nothing more than a proud dirt farmer tahat knew he lived and died by the rain that fell on his crop. I could imagine him lying awake at night praying for things that were beyond his control. I am sure his belief was God fearing because he chose a hard path. He joined the 28th G.A. when duty called. I would give anything to see him in those times, and from a picture that my aunt has, his face is stern, his mustache is full, and the look in his eye is humble but proud. He survived some hard times, I’m sure, because of a story that I have learned from his military service.

In the cold month of January 1864, his regiment was in Lake City, Fla., cold and hungry, when a wild pig ran through their camp. All the men sprang to their feet, and the hunt was on, a bunch of country boys trying to catch supper. I bet it was a sight to see. After the pig was killed, there was a great sadness that fell over the regiment. They realized that there was not enough meat to feed them all, but for a moment that awful war was forgotten, and they had a chance to be country boys again.
I am sure that some could say that secession from the Union could be considered treason, but how can you justify the same old English suppression. Here is where I would like to borrow a few words from this country’s greatest document. Our government was instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them most likely to affect their safety and happiness. It is their right and duty to throw off such government.
I am proud of his service to his country. I think he was a brave soul to take on that fight with the odds stacked against him. If more Americans would have the courage to stand up to the wrongs in the world like James Butler Johnson did, maybe we would not be bowing down to some of the liberal values that have gotten us off course.
Sincerely,
Hank Johnson
Danielsville